First Year Charts Collection for Jazz Ensemble: 2nd B-flat Trumpet Book

A tour through the jazz standards catalog and popular culture filtered through an educational lens. You'll feel the swagger of big band swing, the coolness of a ballad, the drive of rock and Latin grooves, and the playfulness of well-known themes arranged for a working band.

Second-year jazz ensemble players who are ready to move beyond unison warm-ups and need music that challenges them without overwhelming them. Directors building a jazz program from the ground up will find this collection essential for establishing a repertoire that sounds mature without requiring advanced chops.

• Balance the 2nd trumpet line against the 1st and 3rd parts; these arrangements are written so section blend matters more than individual projection.
• Lock into the rhythm section's groove early in rehearsals, especially on the swing and Latin tunes where feel is everything.
• When solos come around, listen closely to what the rhythm section is playing underneath and match their phrasing and dynamics rather than playing ahead of them.
• Treat the written-out improvisation sections as learning tools first; memorize them before attempting to paraphrase or re-voice them.

Open a winter concert with 'Loosen Up' as your ensemble's calling card, then pull 3 or 4 charts from different style families for your spring jazz showcase. The holiday option gives you immediate December programming, while the standards and theme arrangements let you build a concert around a movie night or retro theme.

• Reading jazz articulation and phrasing across multiple jazz idioms
• Playing written-out improvisation sections with stylistic accuracy
• Balancing harmonic color in the trumpet section across full and reduced instrumentation
• Responding to rhythm section accompaniment and groove orientation
• Interpreting chord changes and form in swing, ballad, rock, and Latin contexts
• Sectional blend and intonation when doubling or combining parts